


Stand By Me

by DoreyG



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Flirting, Jealousy, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, Secret Crush, Teasing, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-15 02:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13603239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/pseuds/DoreyG
Summary: "I never thought I'd actually see them leave," he says, absent-mindedly polishing a glass for something to actuallydo"...Wait, can I say that now?"





	Stand By Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kmfillz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmfillz/gifts).



"I never thought I'd actually see them leave," he says, absent-mindedly polishing a glass for something to actually _do_ "...Wait, can I say that now?"

"The Cardassians have nearly moved out of the station, Quark, I doubt they can prosecute you for anything you say now," Odo says, turning from his perusal of the almost empty bar to send him a scornful glance, "to be honest, I doubt whether they could've prosecuted you for that even at the height of their power. You were simply stating a rather obvious fact."

"Yeah, well," he says, somewhat defensively, and slams the glass down on the bar so Odo keeps looking at him, "the Cardassians are rather fond of prosecuting people for stating obvious facts, or have you forgotten?"

He meant it to be simply another volley in the game, a way to continue their endless conversation, but he knows the moment it leaves his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. Odo only frowns a little, ducks his head as if preparing to take a deep dive into his memories, "I haven't forgotten."

"...It'll be different, now that the Cardassians are gone!" He throws out maybe a touch desperately, for while Odo may look quite dashingly handsome when he's brooding he far prefers the guy actually _talking_ , "worryingly different, if you want my opinion. Everything is going to change, and maybe not for the better. I wonder if we'll be preferring the devil we know by the end of next year."

"Perhaps," Odo says, still looking worryingly distant, "having never had direct dealings with the Federation before now, I couldn't possibly say."

"I've been considering moving on myself, you know," he says, even more desperately than before. There's only Odo to witness him, after all, he never really has to worry about his dignity in front of Odo, "going to somewhere a little more familiar, with a few more business opportunities and a few less sanctimonious humans with no appreciation of good old gold pressed latinum."

 _That_ , at least, gets his attention. Odo's eyes finally slide back to him, faint amusement glinting in them, "and leave m- all this behind?"

"Why not?" He asks daringly, and refuses to let his mind analyse Odo's brief slip. He can dwell on it later, privately, in his quarters where _nobody_ can interrupt, "better to land on your feet than be shoved on your face, that's what I've always said."

"You have so many sayings, it's hard to keep track," Odo says, and smirks a little at his offended huff, "it won't just be sanctimonious humans, you know."

"Oh?"

"I've heard rumours that Garak will also be staying on the station. Though, to be perfectly frank, he doesn't seem all that happy about it," Odo says, and leans distractingly forwards before he can do more than nod at that unexpected news, "and the Bajoran representative, and first officer, has already been announced. Kira Nerys, remember her?"

Jealousy immediately hits him right in the gut, but he likes to think that he doesn't let it show on his face. He only sniffs a little, lifts his chin and adopts an expression of complete haughtiness, "that terrorist that you've always liked?"

"Freedom fighter. And she's an acquaintance, yes," Odo says, and gives him a brief look of confusion before shrugging and getting back to normal, "my point is that there will be some points of stability, even as everything else changes around them."

"Maybe," he admits, and forces his jealousy down even lower. It's irrational, after all. Kira may be pretty and talented and distractingly dominant, but Odo has never been forced to set up a twenty four-seven watch on her and so _there_ , "but what's the value of those tiny points, if everything else changes for the worse?"

"You never know, Quark," Odo says, so quietly that it could almost be heard as reassuring if he didn't know the guy so well, "things might actually change for the better."

Their eyes meet, hold with a strange intensity. His breath catches in his throat, his hands finally stop absent-mindedly toying with the glass before him. He's suddenly aware that they're the only two left in the bar, the rest of the station almost deserted and starfleet not arriving for a few weeks yet...

"After all," Odo says, and smiles a wicked smile that really shouldn't hit him right between the legs but always kind of _does_ , "if you're leaving, things are _bound_ to be looking up."

He gawps silently for a moment, _outraged_ at his bluff being called, and then huffs. Ducks his head back to his glass again, and continues stubbornly polishing as Odo looks on with his usual damned smirk steady upon his lips.


End file.
